Looking back at the whole Thanos saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now that it’s all over, it probably goes without saying that the Mad Titan’s ecological motivation for snapping away half the universe is pretty dumb.
But if you thought Thanos’ motivation in the films was ridiculous, it doesn’t hold a candle to his incredibly stupid reason in the comic books.
In the Infinity Gauntlet comic arc which the films are based on, Thanos goes through the same journey of getting the Infinity Stones and Infinity Gauntlet so he can wipe out half the universe.
But his motivation for that isn’t because of some misguided plan to free up resources for living beings. The reason Thanos dusted half the universe is because he wants to bone Death.
In Thanos’ defence, Death looks less like the Grim Reaper and more like an actual woman in the comics than what you’re probably imagining right now. Anyway, his plan to get the Infinity Gauntlet so he can snap away half the universe was essentially some kind of mating ritual so he can prove his love to the female personification of Death.
So in short, the Mad Titan’s original motivation for the Snappening was less of the “saving the universe in my own way” kind and more of the “lovesick teenager trying to impress his crush” sort.
To Thanos’ chagrin though, Death still rejects him after he gets the Infinity Gauntlet and does the snap because she (it?) considers him to now be too powerful to be a mate. No matter how you look at it, getting the “it’s not you it’s me” excuse from Death cuts deep.
Just to throw a pile of salt in Thanos’ heartbroken wound, Death wounds up getting freaky with another Marvel character: Deadpool. Yeah. Weirdest love triangle ever.
Jealous that the Merc with a Mouth stole his, uh, girl, Thanos decides to curse Deadpool with immortality, which is why the red-suited buffoon can never die in the comics. Sounds exactly like the mature response you’d get from an omnipotent being with the emotional development of a 14-year-old.
So yes, Thamos’ motivations for the Snappening in the films was dumb. But compared to his original reason of wanting Death to accept him as a lover in the comics, it almost seems like the plan of a genius mastermind.
It’s perhaps for the best that Marvel decided to go down the misguided ecological route instead of the horny, emo teenager who literally flirts with Death option.